Leadership, Community And Values Initiative
COMMUNITY
Black Faculty & Staff at the UW
Namura Nkeze, Academic Counselor in the Gateway Center, Undergraduate Advising, co-founded the Black Faculty & Staff at UW organization as a result of the LCVI survey findings.
During the 2005 Washington State Faculty & Staff of Color Conference, Jai Elliott and I came up with the idea of forming a Black Faculty and Staff group on campus. Motivated by the conference, we returned to the UW ready to organize, and set the first meeting for November 2005. To our surprise we had over 30 attendees, confirming that this was a good thing and that folks wanted a way to gather and talk. Coupled with the findings of the LCVI survey, this gave us all we needed to move forward.
Over the next few meetings, the group decided to hold a reception to formalize the group. With donations from OMA/D and Intercollegiate Athletics we were able to draw over 100 Black Faculty and Staff from Seattle, Tacoma, Bothell, and Harborview. Now in its second year, this group has established an on-line presence as well as monthly meetings. We are in the process of defining our goals for the year and welcome your participation. If you are interested in getting involved, please send an e-mail to nnkeze@u.washington.edu.
